Bonds
by Fairyfae
Summary: Sakura and Touya were born to Clow. This is a story of bonds: the bond between Yue and Touya, the bond between Touya and Sakura and the bond between Sakura and Kero. Some have roots that are deeper than they seem at first glance.


Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. Clow...Sorry, I mean CLAMP owns these characters. If I had owned them, the main characters would have been Touya and Yue.

Warning: This chapter involves childbirth. Childbirth involves blood and panic.

_Notes: Thoughts are in italics. _"Speech or anything said out loud is in quotation marks."SCREAMS OR SHOUTING ARE CAPITALIZED AND HAVE EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!

Just one small aside before beginning the story. I would like to thank SuperBunny and Capitalist for their reviews of "The Truth." Thank you Capitalist. I am sure your honesty will help me in my future writing. I went back and incorporatedsome of what you said and tried especially hard to edit this chapter. Who knew starred was a word? I thought it _was_ stared until you pointed it out to me. SuperBunny, thank you for your encouragement and your urging me to keep trying. I will do my best and I hope you enjoy the first chapter in this story. If people express an interest in having this fic continued, there will be more chapters in the future. _Let us commence. _Oops, meant to say that out loud.

_WHY DOESN'T SOMEONE PUT OUT THAT LIGHT!!!_

The normally serene Nadeshiko mentally ranted while digging fleshy canyons into the firm hand clasping hers. She was too much of a lady to shout, but she couldn't help raging in her mind.

_You feel like your dying, like your guts are trying to compress themselves into a lump the size of a coin and they think its time to SHINE A LIGHT IN YOUR EYES?! WHAT?! Are they trying to SUGGEST SOMETHING? I DON'T WANT TO GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT!!! JUST GIVE ME MY SON!!! _

Good lord, she ached everywhere. Previous to today - is today still today? - she hadn't even known she had muscles there. For the first time, she understood the phrase 'bone-weary.' How was it even possible for one's skeleton to throb? She was even to tired to contemplate expending the energy necessary to close her eyelids.

Couldn't they just smother the lord's beloved light, blow it out, extinguish it, kill it, DESTROY IT!!!! Was that too much to ask? She wasn't pushing. She was holding back. She was violating the very nature of birthing at their request. Surely they could do her one favor.

_DON'T I AT LEAST DESERVE TO HAVE MY EYES FREE FROM STRAIN?_

Another contraction seized her body. Groaning, she kneaded the sheet with one hand and tried not to hurt her husband too badly with the other. She tried desperately not to push, but one part of her just wasn't listening to the rest of her. Every inch of her shook as the battle between her will and body escalated. Nevertheless, she fought on. She couldn't hurt her son. No matter what, he would enter this world. She would hold out until they could get him to...

"AHHHHHHHHHH! PUT OUT THAT BLASTED LIGHT!" Nadeshiko screamed than panted. So much for keeping it all inside. Ladylike behavior be fudged. Her body convulsed with quiet sobs. Why?! Why was it so dang hard to breathe.

The man holding Nadeshiko's hand paled. It wasn't right to hear such demonic screams escape his usually angelic wife. Furthermore, the sound was more disturbing to him than it might have been to any other husband sweating bullets over their wife's laboring. He liked to dissect the world, to understand and interpret everything perfectly. Then, after having a consummate understanding of any situation, he took appropriate and immediate action to deal with it. Unfortunately for him, he was so far out of his depth, if this had been swimming, he would have drowned by now. He couldn't figure out if the sound was pained, fearful, anxious or angry. He felt like pulling his hair out by the roots. How could he address a problem he couldn't identify? Maybe it was all four. He shuddered lightly at that truly horrifying thought. Well, at least he could address the most immediate complaint. He ceased his subtle efforts to loosen his wife's unnaturally tight grip and instead wove a few invisible, archaic signs into the air with his free hand. The light in the room dimmed.

"Sorry sir." a timid voice asserted as a young girl shyly peaked up from between his wife's legs. "I really need the light if possible."

"NO YOU DON'T!!!"

Both the man and the girl jumped. The girl quickly went back to looking busy while the man returned to reassuring his wife. He worried silently to himself while he wove a few more symbols down beside the bed thereby summoning Glow. He didn't want his wife to see him using magic around their, yet, unborn son.

The midwife squeaked and almost fainted as the ground directly behind her started to emit a soft light.

Mentally, Clow thanked the small luminescent being.

Nadeshiko continued her weak sobs, "She doesn't...she really doesn't. I don't want it..."

"Shhhhhhhhh" Clow cooed softly. Before today he'd never thought of himself as the cooing type. It's so undignified, but as they say, necessity gives rise to a lot of things. "The light will stay dimmed." Clow continued to stroke her skin softly and worried more. Worrying was becoming less of a pastime and more of a profession lately. He looked carefully at his wife. She really needed to bring her breathing under control.

More time passed and his thoughts wandered. What a switch this was from - he glanced out the window to gage the position of the sun - well over thirty-nine hours ago. When all this had started, he'd been the one panicking. All his creations had watched him in awe as their usually unflappable master bumbled around like the quintessential village idiot. In retrospect, he was just grateful that no one had yet invented the easily portable camera or he would never be able to live his behavior down. His lovely wife had stoically endured the pain. Constantly, she'd cooed to him and petted him, reminding him of the blessing that was about to enter their lives. She'd tease him saying that he wouldn't recognize her with a waistline, that it was about time he got his side of the bed back or who would he talk to at night now that her stomach was no longer an option. After getting him all flustered over the fact that she wasn't taking this seriously enough, she would calmly remind him that this was about the birth of their first son, a perfect mix of the two of them. He would clam down and smile.

Now, everything was going all wrong. The dreamed of day was turning into an endless, hellish nightmare, one where not only wouldn't he get his son, but he faced the possibility of losing both his beloved wife and his much anticipated child.

Mentally, Clow shook himself. It was absolutely necessary that he calm down. He mustn't let his wife worry. His perfect, strong, resilient wife who was currently reduced to screaming about minor irritants. More frightening than the pained sounds was the lack of such sounds. Knowledge crept over his skin like an army of bitting ants, a painful all consuming knowledge that he couldn't shake. He knew exactly what it meant when the screams stopped and that thought mercilessly assaulted his mind. And the screams, they were getting less frequent and quieter, all of them interspersed between shallow panting. This fact bordered on tragic seeing that at the same time, the contractions were coming practically non-stop. Internally he berated himself. He should have known. This birth couldn't be done naturally. Too many evil spirts held grudges against him. What they couldn't do to him, they could try to do to his wife and son.

A scream pulled his attention back to the present. He added spoken reassurances to his caresses. "Don't worry honey. I'm sure the midwife knows what she's doing," He quickly leveled a desperate look at the midwife. "You know what your doing don't you?"

The poor young girl at the end of the bed - more than a little scared for her life - nodded weakly, a sickly smile in place, "Yes sir. Of course sir. Grandma taught me everything she knows." She quickly gave him more useless nodding.

Clow returned to his internal diatribe. Could old Granny Merryweather have chosen a worse time to die and leave her young granddaughter in charge of the family 'business.' Thinking back, the time of her death was a little to convenient considering current events. No, he didn't he think her death was a natural act of fate. These events were one-hundred percent malicious intervention. He clamped tightly down on his expression. No point in showing his worry. Geez! His mind was beginning to sound like a broken record. Nevertheless, he would remind himself as many times as necessary. The bloody emotion was contagious and his wife had her own issues to deal with at the moment. Clow looked back at Nadeshiko and faked confidence.

"See," his face screwed up in an odd mixture of affection and pain as another contraction pushed his wife to carve new, bloody crescent moons in his flesh.

"Oh, ah, owe" he winced and turned a sickly green. "Her grandma ah ah ahhhh..."

Clow tried to control his own breathing before continuing. He really should have eaten something earlier. The smell of blood and other fluids was starting to get to him. His stomach twisted into knots and only sheer will kept the acid fluxing into the back of his throat from exiting through his mouth. He resumed his efforts to loosen his wife's grip and continued his prior thought, "Her grandmother taught her everything and noone is as good at delivery babies as Grandmother Merryweather. She knows what she's doing. The knowledge is practically in her blood"

Or at least he desperately hoped that she knew what she was doing. He was seriously having his doubts. Maybe evil spirits had been tampering with her memory. She wouldn't have enough experience at this age to rely on instinct. God, he wished her grandmother was still alive. However, he didn't think it would be best to air those thoughts out loud.

Unfortunately, Clow couldn't prevent his increasing tension, not when he could experience the shadowy reflection of everything that was happening to his wife and son.

Adding his own sickly smile to the one still plastered on the midwife's face, Clow began to plead gently while making small gestures over his wife's hand. He needed his hand back. He was going to have to do something soon. "Honey, let go. I need to push my glasses back up on my nose."

"NO!! NO YOU DON'T!!!" Nadeshiko leveled a glare on him hard enough to cut through steel. He shuddered. Who was this alien and when would the ones on the mother ship bring his real wife back.

"IF I HAVE TO SUFFER, YOU DO TOO!!"

The man looked pitiful for a moment. Such a look usually worked wonders. More misfortune struck however because pitiful looks don't work on women under the influence of labor. The last stage of pregnancy is the very essence of 'misery loves company.' He should have known that from the numerous odd acts he'd had to perform over the last three months.

Nadeshiko released a hiccupping sob before whimpering, "You don't love me? You don't love me."

The man's expression melted into panic, the almighty will of the world's greatest magician decimated by the chocked words of a frail-looking woman. He increased his stroking of her hand. "Honey," Stroke. "Sweetie pie," Stroke. "You know I love you." He kissed her knuckles before continuing to pat her hand. Resigned to the pain, he tried to think of something.

Things couldn't be as bad as the voices in the back of his head were telling him. Of course, the voices in the back of his mind were a little different from the voices that spoke to most other people. The whispering of his conscience just couldn't compete with the noisy proclamations of over fifty magical beings and several spiritual connections. At least not all the voices in his head agreed that events were careening toward an inevitable tragedy. Some of the voices asserted only that tragedy was likely. Anyways, even he could be wrong, right? At least, for the first time ever he hoped even he could be wrong.

Despite his doubts, he lied to his wife in his most reassuring tone, "It's alright. Its going to be alright."

More sobbing, "It's not...It's not alriiiiiight." Nadeshiko's body curled sharply with another contraction.

Clow flinched. Why didn't he marry a stupid woman? Intelligent women were so hard to lie to. Well, they were difficult to lie to successfully anyway.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH."

Yet another contraction struck and another hand spasm wrung any liquid from his fingers. Damn it. This was no time for joking, even internally. He needed to pay attention, now more than ever. The contractions were getting even closer together. How is that possible? They were practically on top of each other before. He felt around with his 'other' senses. The baby's head was still not in the right position. Clow left worry and shot straight into the later stages of panic. Nonetheless, he tried to remain outwardly calm.

"Breath baby. Breath. Say Ah. Ah, Ah Ah Ah."

"YOU SAY AH" a new scream ripped the air. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH."

" I don't care if you ARE the most powerful magician ever. You are NEVER touching me AGAIN!!! oh god, oh god, oh god." His wife writhed and whimpered. Watching it, Clow had to blink to clear his vision of moisture.

More time passed and his wife's screams gradually grew quieter, weaker and shorter, almost as if she was losing the ability to produce them. He, more than most people knew that blessings come at a cost but damn it. Must childbirth be so hard? Must it make a strong person so vulnerable. Wasn't there anything that he could do to help without causing problems?

Clow looked back down at the midwife. He needed to get her attention. He did the only thing he could without two hands and the freedom to move. He buzzed her...with a little jolt of electricity.

The girl screamed loud enough to reach all ten levels of hell. Clow winced as the noise set off a terrible chain reaction between her and his wife.

"OH!"

"AHHHHH!"

"OOOOOHHHHHH!!!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"SILENCE" Clow screamed and the being obeyed its master's implied command immediately. Absolute quite descended and his wife glared daggers at him. He felt bad...Kinda...but not really. He had other things to worry about not the least of which included fading heartbeats, the pain in the back of his skull and the promise he was about to break. He couldn't accommodate his wife's wishes any longer. He desperately needed to take action.

Gradually, sound returned as the Silence sensed its master's need to speak. Seeing the midwife's petrified eyes focused on him, he took the opportunity to talk. Furtively, he gestured to Silence. Quickly, the being moved to block the conversation from Nadeshiko's hearing.

Although he didn't think his wife was up to reading lips, he glanced downward before speaking. Underestimating her had gotten him in trouble before. "How does it look?"

The young girl lowered her eyes in the universal sign of humility, hopelessness and sorrow, "Not so good sir. He's still in the wrong position and," she paused a moment to draw in a deep breath, "I think the cord is wrapped around his neck. Turning him could cause damage but leaving him like he is could...No, it will definitely cause damage. Your wife can't take much more. She's hemorrhaging badly. I can't tell for sure what to do." The girl wrung her hands.

Clow felt a small pang in his heart at the girls obvious distress. This was one hell of a pregnancy for your first delivery without supervision. She looked so young and lost. She just didn't have her grandmother's fortitude. Maybe this profession wasn't for her which, admittedly, was not something he wanted to learn while she was supervising his wife's labor.

The girl stared at him and hoped he wasn't the type to keep grudges. Everyone in town knew this man wasn't quite normal. She whispered, "Its up to you."

Clow closed his eyes to think. He and his wife had spoken about this birth. They had decided that the baby would be born naturally. He had promised. There were so many risks to be had when using magical assistance. There was no telling what the effect on the baby would be but...Did he really have a choice? He could feel his wife's pain like a spoke-sized splinter driving into the back of his brain. He could hear the terrified cries of his yet unborn son as the boy's limited and previously safe world went crazy around him. Clow knew the woman was right about the dangers to the boy. His own throat burned in sympathy as he 'felt' the cord wrap tighter around his son's neck. And there was one unavoidable fact: the infant's heartbeat was dwindling at the same pace that his wife's strength was fading.

"There's so much blood. I've never seen so much blood." the midwife muttered, almost reverently as she looked back down between his wife's legs.

That decided it. Clow wasn't willing to lose his son or his wife. And, he definitely wouldn't lose both of them, not if he could help it. Promise be damned. Screw that, all four corners of the world be damned if he couldn't save them. Their lives were more important than any magical side effects the child might suffer. Their lives were more important than anything.

With no little remorse, Clow turned to look into his wife's eyes. Smiling gently he lifted the bone-white fingers that were clenching his own to his lips. Placing a tender kiss on her knuckles, he whispered, "I love you." That apology given for a crime he was never going to tell her about, Clow proceeded to challenge fate.

Lovingly, he used the lightest of mental nudges to send Nadeshiko into a trance. He didn't have much time. The boy couldn't be delivered while his wife was in this state. He needed a being...a powerful autonomous being that could overcome all the bad karma that seemed to be oozing out of the walls in his normally secure home. But first...

Prying his mangled hand loose from his wife, he called Mirror, Sleep and Dream to himself. Quickly he faced the now trembling midwife. Clow stood and walked calmly toward the figure that was scrambling in a ridiculous manner across the floor, limbs flailing, movements wildly uncoordinated. He couldn't help but think that the futile effort at getting away made the girl look absurd. Who would take the time to damage a total stranger while their wife was in the midst of high-risk labor. He huffed quietly in his mind. Where did some people get their twisted ideas about magic users? Despite his mixed sense of urgency and annoyance, he expended a minimal effort to calm the girl down before she had a heart attack.

"Shhhhhhhh. It's going to be alright. I'm just going to put you to sleep for a bit." He put his hands up in a placating manner. "When you wake, you'll remember giving birth to my son, I'll pay you handsomely for your efforts and you'll go on your way completely unharmed. Your grandmother would be very proud of you." Mentally he rolled his eyes. At this point, what was one little falsehood.

The girl looked unconvinced and totally constipated in Clow's opinion. Oh well. He shrugged internally. Sleep had arrived. Unwilling to put anymore effort into a relative stranger, he told sleep to get to work. Clow caught the young girl as she tipped over. Gently he placed her on the floor outside the door. That done he ordered Silence and Glow to vacate the room. Both cards quickly did so, both anxious to speak with the others. Even the normally taciturn Silence wanted to spread the news of the misfortunes that loomed over their master. They all needed to be alert in case their master called.

Looking up, he told the recently arrived Dream to construct a suitable reality for the girl before joining him in the room with his wife. Just as Dream began to work on the girl, Mirror arrived. He nodded at the green-haired girl and gestured for her to follow him.

Now that the midwife was dealt with, it was time to tackle the more arduous task of fooling his wife. God knew, Mirror could only trick his wife when imitating someone Nadeshiko didn't know well. Perhaps Granny Merryweather's death was a blessing in disguise. She might not have been able to help against the dark fate that seemed to weigh down this whole birthing process and he would have never been able to convince his wife that Mirror was her long-time friend.

Clow escaped his thoughts to see concern blatantly displayed in Mirror's expression as she leaned over Nadeshiko's bed.. He sighed before summoning a weak smile for one of his most gentle creations.

"Mirror?"

The girl lifted soft eyes to gaze at him, brow slightly furrowed. "Yes master?"

"I know this will be hard for you, but I need your help in deceiving my wife."

Mirror looked into the warm but tired eyes of her master. He must know that she would do anything for him. She would even do something as distasteful as deceiving her kind mistress. She knew, no matter what, the master would never ask her to do something like that unless he deemed it absolutely necessary. So, in the firmest voice she could manage she replied, "Of course master. What do you need?"

Clow blessed the graceful girl with another smile before getting down to business. "I need you to play the part of the midwife. No matter what, you must pretend that you helped give natural birth to our son." Mirror's eyes widened at the implications of the statement before acquiescing.

"Yes master."

Time of the essence, Clow ushered Mirror to the foot of the bed before returning to his former position by Nadeshiko's side. Looking back, he saw that mirror was already huddled down with a new face and form. She looked so nervous as she wrung her hands together. Clow couldn't help but be touched by her obvious desire to do her best. Warmth slowly displaced some the ice that had coalesced inside his chest. It was times like this that he knew for certain. He was truly blessed. The ability to make such wonderful creatures could be nothing but a boon.

He took a precious moment to gently tease her, "Now, don't drop him."

Mirror raised panicked eyes to her master before squeaking, "What!"

Clow chuckled lightly before he felt his son's heartbeat drop again, this time drastically. The suffocating gravity of the situation threatened to overcome him once more. He fought with himself mentally. This was not the time to be distracted. It would take all his hard earned discipline and concentration to pull this off.

Mirror watched as her master took a deep breath and bowed his head. Eyes half-lidded, he chanted odd, lilting vocals unrecognizable even to a magical being such as herself. Each sound flowed from between his lips with all the smooth sweetness of honey, each sound tempting listeners to lean closer in an effort to more fully enjoy the melody.

Despite the pleasantness of the vibrations, Mirror shuddered as disturbing effects began to manifest. Unconsciously, she wrapped her arms around herself, abrading her own flesh as all heat seemed to flee from the room. If she didn't know better, she'd think that Freeze was throwing one of its temper tantrums. Distortions began to warp the surrounding space as spirits revealed themselves. Shadows crept and danced across any and every flat surface that was more than three feet from the bed. Gradually, the pseudo-movement became real as the darkness boiled up and out from everywhere, listlessly droplets of darkness cast themselves into the air as bubbles of the mysterious blackness popped. The false black rain accumulated into repugnant, stinking puddles, each looking like mounds of greenish-black mud piled carelessly as if by the hand of a child. Languid shapes began to stretch upward, pulling out of two-dimensional surfaces and ugly, distorted piles of black. Each pull and stretch created a transparent figure with length, height and depth. The creatures all had faces but they constantly shifted as though an invisible hand was carelessly scrambling the features.

There were only two characteristics that were consistent across all of the shadowy men and both terrified Mirror. The first was in the expressions. Although the shifting features made capturing any particular expression difficult, one thing was blatantly obvious. Each face's mouth was twisted into an exaggerated expression of pain or anger. But that wasn't the worst. The more alarming and frightening characteristic had to do with the creatures' eyes. On each face, only a pair of glowing red eyes remained fixed in place as all other features shifted around them. Worse yet, all those eyes focused in one direction. Sometimes they seemed to be on the side of a head, sometimes above or below a nose and sometimes it even looked like they would be swallowed by a distorted mouth, but no matter how the black mass shifted around them, they always stayed where they could focus sharply on the mistress's sickbed.

Mirror shivered as a clacking, screeching sound filled the room. It was the most horrible mixture of fingernails being drawn across a chalkboard and claws scrapping across a hard surface. These beings...they weren't like herself or any of the others that the master created. These beings were frightening. They felt indifferent. They felt...evil. A hard tremble racked Mirror's body. Quickly, she regained control. The last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to herself. These creatures felt like they cared for nothing. They felt like something that could cheerful chew on a living child's carcass while the mother watched screaming. Such malice...it brought tears to her eyes and a painful clenching to her chest. It was hard to breathe.

Mirror gasped as the formless beings shuffled towards the bed on stumpy, shifting limbs. Nervous, she bit her lip hard to stop any more sound from escaping. If she was human, she would have drawn blood. Desperate for reassurance, she looked around her mistress. She needed to see her master again. What she saw only made her gnaw on her lip harder.

Sweat beaded his brow and his face scrunched up in a look of intense concentration. It was obvious. He was struggling with something. The noise in the room began to escalate to a painful level. If her master was trying to bargain with these creatures for their help, he was failing miserably. They sounded irritated...angry. How could any creature be angry with her beloved master? It was only her strong desire to please him that kept her from crawling across the floor and into his lap. She couldn't disturb him. Mirror covered both her ears and water started to fall down her face. Shaky knees gave out and she sat on the floor. In a futile effort to hide, she buried her head between her knees. Maybe if she didn't see them, they would go away. In the core of her being, she pleaded with her master. Please, she was so afraid.

Suddenly, an ominous silence descended on the room. Afraid of exactly what that silence might mean, Mirror uncovered her ears and gradually lifted her gaze to take in her surroundings. The first thing she saw was that the mysterious figures surrounded the bed. The second thing was that each of them was completely frozen. Even their shifting faces had ceased to move leaving each as little more than a still life depiction of torture personified. Nevertheless, they were too close for her comfort.

Hastily, she pressed her back against the end of the bed practically burying her face where she had no business being. However, that was hardily on her mind as a rift began to open in the floor right in front of her. What she saw next hypnotized her, capturing her attention to the point where she forgot even her fear. Up from the ground, the most enchanting light seeped, saturating the room in a mysterious glow. Glow itself couldn't produce a more captivating light. The shadows cast more shadows making the whole room seem alive and yet they still couldn't move. The shadow being right in front of her seemed to dissolve into nothing. Slowly, a glowing white essence emerged. Mirror didn't know what else to call it. It had no eyes, no body. It was just an essence, a life, and it had to be the most beautiful thing Mirror had ever seen. She wanted to copy it but she wasn't sure she could. In fact, she was almost positive that doing so would be irreverent.

Whatever it was, it did have a voice...a very cold but melodious voice. Even her master's voice couldn't rival the tone that escaped this creature. The sound carried within itself a deep peace, like that found in a moonlit graveyard. It was a sound that could bring forth comfort while, at the same time, making the heart pound madly. Mirror was trapped, immobile as it focused on her. She didn't know how she knew it was focusing on her. She just knew it did.

"Girl." the voice caressed her skin with icy condescension. "Do you know who you've called?"

Mirror remembered to tremble.

Relief flooded Clow as he felt the presence of the Moon Guardian. The moment he had started his spell, he felt the movement of malicious specters, doubtlessly the same ones that had put so much effort into cursing this day. Although he was relieved to know that his summons worked and that the evil spirits attack had been temporarily halted by the arrival of the much more powerful entity, he knew that the real danger lay with the being he had summoned. The real danger had just begun. He reminded himself, it wasn't yet time to relax. After all, time was still taking its toll on his wife and son. He had mere minutes to convince a billion year-old being that it wanted to help him.

Clow opened his eyes, stood and moved to place a steadying hand on Mirror's shoulder. Not one of the malicious spirits moved to touch him, each thoroughly nailed in place. Reaching the end of the bed, he allowed himself to completely take in the presence of the creature he had summoned. He paused. Even Clow stood temporarily awed by its magnificence. He felt the creature's growing impatience. Shaking himself free from his paralysis, he drew the creatures attention to himself.

In a firm voice, he stated, "It is I who called you."

Clow knew exactly when powerful 'eyes' shifted from his trembling servant to fixate on him. Patiently, he allowed curiosity to steep in silence before answering the question that the creature had mistakenly directed at the child-like being clinging desperately to his leg.

With careful consideration and in his most flattering manner, he answered to the best of his limited knowledge "You are a sacred creature. The being that stands at the pathway between worlds. You guard the moonlit path along which spirits traverse. You control the entrance and exit of souls into and out of this world. You have a strong affiliation with wind, rain, mist, darkness and all things ethereal."

Quietly, the creature answered, its voice flat and uninterested, its tone the very essence of long-suffering patience, "Indeed? Amazingly, after a time exceeding a billion years, I know this of myself. Did you call me here to say this? Do you have aught else to say?"

Clow took up on the creatures prompt. He'd never been this audacious in his summoning before, but he decided that the best way, the only way to deal with this situation was to be as straightforward and honest as possible. "I have requested your gracious presence because I am in need of your assistance. My unborn son and my wife...they stand at the foot of the path that you guard. I pray that you push them away and usher them instead back into this world."

The mystic being replied, its voice reflecting no emotion, no interest, "And why should I help you? Hundreds of children die everyday. Hundreds more are never born. What audacity allows you to think that I should abide by your request."

Clow was careful to keep his posture humble as the creature subtly snubbed him, "I do not seek to make demands. Instead, I come with an offer."

"An offer?" the voice displayed the first emotion since the creatures appearance. It was slight, but curiosity was evident to the listening magician.

Clow was subtly encouraged. He pushed his glasses back up his nose. It was intrigued. Mentally crossing his fingers, he hoped that the legends were correct. He prayed that he had correctly guessed what would tempt the creature to assist him.

Charging ahead, Clow stated as calmly as a man trying to prevent the death of two loved ones possibly could, "Do you not wonder what it would be like to live? Don't you want to know breath, touch, feeling, ties to other living beings? What if I could offer you a life in this world?"

The creature laughed, an equally alluring and repelling noise. Calming slightly, it responded, "And how would you do that insignificant child. You who are bound to a limited life. Are you proposing that you could create a life for me, a body capable of housing this soul?"

Tension racking every inch of his being, Clow slid his glasses back up his sweat slick nose. Why couldn't they just stay in place? How could he be sweating so much in a room that was freezing? Raising an eyebrow, his posture nothing short of perfect, he instilled his voice with all the confidence of the world's most renowned human magician. "I could." With feigned casualness, he gestured to Mirror at his feet and Dream that was pressed oddly into the corner above the door. "I created these and many more. I could create for you a body that is even more magnificent, one that would suit your elegance and stature. While you lived, you would be able to forget all your responsibilities to the afterworld. You would live, learn, grow and even love here."

Clow paused and held his breath, as the being magically surveyed his home seeking confirmation of assertions that must seem arrogant and groundless. He knew each time it's search brushed over one of his creations, he felt each one tense at the invasion and silently apologized to each of them.

With each new discovery, the creatures tension increased until the collected strain practically ignited the air. The contagion affected every being in the area causing nervous muscles to vibrate and twitch. Even those that did not know exactly what was going on were deeply affected.

Clow felt his son stir and struggle. The creature too noticed and its attention shifted immediately to the bed. After a moments contemplation, it released an intense feeling of longing. Every heart in the area throbbed in time with it.

Slowly, words again cut the air, each syllable filled with the unworldly longing and bitterness, "Your trade is not even."

The guardian wasn't going to accept his offer. Clow's heart fell into the soles of his feet and his throat seized up as invisible claws began to tear at his neck and eyes. This couldn't be happening.

The mysterious voice continued, "You would have me give you your son. A joy that only the living can know, a deep love that is reserved for mothers and fathers. Even if you gave me a body, I could not give birth. I could never know the joys of having such a love. Your offer, it is not enough." The guardian began to leave.

In the back of Clow's mind he felt a small heart skip three beats.

An agonized scream ripped from Clow's mouth. He knew that his son was leaving him, the same son that he had read to every night since he had first felt his presence, "NO! NO, PLEASE!" He begged, sobbing. He fell to his knees in front of the mystical creature, bending until his head pressed the ground, all dignity forgotten in light of such a tremendous potential loss. The carpet burned his forehead but he didn't even feel the rough abrasion. "Please. I will give you anything. ANYTHING!!"

The creature paused in its retreat. "Anything?"

Clow, well beyond the limits of caution, babbled through short, sharp pants, 'Yes. Yes, I'll give you anything." Frantically, he searched his mind for something he could trade, something that could be as precious to this creature as his son and wife were to him.

"Take my life." he pleaded

The creature laughed, a bitter sound weighed down by endless years of tireless, lonely responsibility and obligation. In one utterance, the creature condemned Clow as a mortal fool. "What use have I for your life."

Remorse flooded Clow. There was only one other offering that came to mind and he was going to offer it. He fought his way through his burning guilt before stating, "I'll give you Mirror, Dream and other creatures that are powerful under the new moon. You can govern and love them all, just like children. They have always been like children to me. If you treat them right, they will bring you countless joys."

Clow winced as he felt pained betrayal from Mirror and Dream. He did start crying harder as he felt them resign themselves to making this sacrifice for their beloved master and his son.

Quietly, in the background the creature hummed to itself, contemplating the benefits of such a trade. Finally, it came to a decision. A sense of satisfaction covered everything as it purred in anticipation. "Fine. I accept your terms. I will send both your wife and son safely back into this world to spend time with you here under one condition."

Clow's entire body collapsed flat to the floor, limp with relief. Mindlessly he whimpered, "Anything."

"Your son. When he is born, he will be my companion for the rest of his life and even after his death. He will be my child, my spouse, my lover and finally my companion on the trail into the next world. He will rule with me for all eternity, never to join you in the eternal rest."

"NOOOOO!" Clow clawed at his own face as he released a horrified yell. How could he have been such a fool? What was he thinking when he summoned such a creature?

Immediately, supernatural anger exploded across the room driving metaphysical knives into every inch of Clow's body. The light emitted from the creature took on a searing intensity. Everything it touched radiated an unbearable cold. Clow trembled so hard he thought his body would shake apart and yet all he could do was repeat the word no over and over again. He thought briefly about summoning Firey but in his heart he knew that he would only bring destruction down upon any of his creations used to face this creature. Ice crept across everything covering even his wife. The shadowy figures that had almost been forgotten began again their halting march, but now that Clow had moved it was evident that they were not going after him. No, they were going after her, her and his son.

Desperately, Clow forced his convulsing body to its feet. He tried to grasp onto the specter closest to him only to have his hand and body pass harmlessly through. Before he hit the ground however, he was launched up and across the room. The impact would have severely damaged him if Dream hadn't thrown herself between him and the wall thereby taking some of the impact. Sliding to the floor, Clow shook his head and looked up in time to see a distorted hand reach through his wife's distended belly.

Long beyond the reach of rational thought, Clow scrambled on hands and knees before finally reaching his feet once more.

"NOOOO! PLEASE, PLEASE STOP!" He reached out toward his wife's unnaturally still body. His reach was such that it seemed as if he was being pulled along in the wake of some invisible force.

In the back of his mind, a tiny heart stopped.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Clow collapsed to the floor, his screams a desperate echo of sounds made by his wife earlier. He pounded the carpet until blood flowed from his hands and still he screamed.

"NO! NO! NO!"

A calm voice easily audible over the mage's desperate screams froze every heart that could hear it. "Farewell Magician."

All hope finally lost, Clow shouted, "FINE!!! FINE! HE'S YOURS!" The defeated voice descended into a whisper, "He is yours. Just let him stay with us and he is yours. I will make you your body. You will be guardian of as many of my creations as you wish. Just live with us, among us. Let us know him. He will be your charge, your spouse and your companion when he finally leaves to travel into the afterlife. Just return to me my wife and son." Clow shakily rose to his feet.

"Done." that proclamation made, the room turned white.

The next thing Clow knew, he was blinking rapidly, his body seated next to his wife, his hand clasped in hers. Sweat soaked her from head to foot but she looked peaceful, serene even. He followed her gaze to the end of the bed where he saw Mirror disguised as the young midwife. A look of wonder dominated her face as she reached one hand down into the bundle of blankets she was clutching protectively to her chest. He couldn't see exactly what she was doing, but whatever it was, it made her look very happy. All he could see from his current position was the wiggling of her fingers. His wife giggled.

"She seems quite fascinated with our son for a midwife, don't you think love?" Although his wife's voice was weighed down by fatigue, it was also laced with the quiet satisfaction of a job well done.

Clow smiled. His voice was hoarse when he replied, "It really is her first unsupervised birthing. Her reaction is not that surprising. I don't think she's ever been the one to catch and clean the baby before."

His wife tilted a kind look at him. "This was hard on you wasn't it love." She slowly raised the hand that wasn't holding his and teasingly poked the leg he had propped on the bed. "You worry for nothing. I told you we would be fine without any of your magic. Women do this everyday without having a single spell involved."

Lifting his hand to where she could see it, she smiled. "I am glad to see I've done no enduring damage."

Amazed, Clow saw that all his bruises from moments before were gone. He didn't even have the little crescent-shaped moons given courtesy of Nadeshiko. Did it really happen? Did he simply black out from long hours without rest and the smell of blood? Now that he thought about it, shouldn't the smell of bodily fluids be worse? The blood smell actually wasn't that bad now. Some time must have passed since the last time he'd looked outside.

"May I hold him?" Nadeshiko gently prodded Mirror who promptly remembered the role she was supposed to be enacting.

Dropping at least three curtsey's, a suitably ridiculous gesture entirely appropriate for Granny Merryweather's granddaughter, Mirror scrambled to the head of the bed, "Oh, yes Sir, I mean Ma'am. Here you are Ma'am." Carefully, Mirror placed the boy in Nadeshiko's arms. She withdrew to the foot of the bed, but only after giving one last wiggle to the fingers on the child's left hand.

Clow smirked to himself. So that's what his young creation had been doing. He dismissed the midwife, aka Mirror, and clandestinely did the same for Dream so that they could both go trumpet to all the wonders of his newborn son. Quietly, he stared at his boy who, oddly enough, stared back with a set of bright and intelligent blue eyes. Clow tilted his head in awe. He had heard that babies didn't open their eyes right away and that all children looked somewhat blank right after being born, but that definitely wasn't true of his son. His son wriggled weakly flopping his head about in an attempt to take more in. He didn't cry. Instead he seemed content to wriggle about trying to observe the new world around him.

Slowly, Clow took in more details, ones that nagged at the back of his mind. There was no afterbirth. His son was sparkling clean from head to foot. The mucus, the blood, the umbilical cord, the tiny remnant of the cord that usually stayed attached for a few weeks before falling off, all of that was absent. The sinking feeling in his stomach increased. He examined his son more closely. Although the fingers of his left hand were trying to close around the finger his mother was teasing him with, they weren't quite capable of doing so. The fingers of his right hand, however, were clenched into a tiny, tight fist. Between the cracks in that fist, a brilliant white light seeped.

He didn't know how he could have missed it before. He looked at his wife but she didn't seem to notice it as she lovingly moved to play with their son's tiny toes. Carefully, he closed his eyes. It had been real. He guessed he was making a body suitable for a pseudo-god. He did like to tackle the most challenging of endeavors. He looked back at his wife.

Nadeshiko spoke when she noticed his attention was on her instead of the baby. Face radiant with motherly affection, a look Clow though looked splendid on her, she stated, "Darling, why don't you name him. I wish to name our daughter so why don't you name our son."

In the back of his mind, he heard a cold, melodious whisper,_ "Touya_."

"Touya?" Cow questioned out loud.

Nadeshiko smiled, "I like it. Our little Touya."

Overwhelmed by all that had happened, Clow closed his eyes again. Removing his glasses, he pinched the bridge of his nose before replacing them once more. He needed to think of a way to make everything right and he would start right now.

Looking deep into Nadeshiko's eye's he made a promise, one she didn't even know he was making, one that he would keep for sure this time. "That's right. He's our little Touya. He deserves the very best. I will make him a guardian angel, one so beautiful and perfect that no being can outshine it. One that is capable of filling our son with happiness and devotion for the rest of his life and beyond."

Touya waved his glowing right fist around and gurgled.

Authors Note: Hello all. If you are reading this, I would like to thank you for reading the first chapter in my fic. I hope you liked it. If you are curious to know what magical side-effect Clow's stunt had, the trials of building the moon guardian's body with its soul giving constant feedback, or how the infant Touya and Yue react to their first meeting, let me know. I am interested in all feedback. If people are really interested in where this story might go, eventually I will integrate other characters such as Sakura and Kero-chan.


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